Rare Beetles Won't Halt Mathews Beach Plans

MATHEWS — The county is standing firmly behind its designation of Bavon Beach as the preferred site for spoils from the Horn Harbor dredging project, despite the discovery of a colony of rare beetles.

The Army Corps of Engineers told the county last week about the rare tiger beetles and asked that another site be provided for the dredging spoils.

The Corps had told the county that it feared placing the sand on that beach could pose a threat to the beetles, which are being considered for inclusion on the endangered-species list.

At Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting, County Administrator Frank A. Pleva told a group of greatly relieved Bavon Beach homeowners that the county had already asked the Corps to proceed with plans to place the dredged sand along that beach.

The homeowners are hoping to get the sand to protect their homes from the threatening tides of the Chesapeake Bay.

One of the homeowners, Cindy Bandjunis, read the supervisors a statement Tuesday in which she contended that the Corps had misunderstood the recommendations of two scientists who had discovered the beetles.

Bandjunis said that she had spoken with the two scientists and that one of them, Judy Jacobs of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, had said that while the short-term impact of depositing the sand could be negative, "the long-term impact could be beneficial," provided the following four conditions are met:

* The sand is deposited between mid-November and mid-March.

* A survey of beetle density is carried out before the sand is deposited and two years afterward.

* Sand is placed only on the most eroded part of the beach.

* The depth of the spoil material is monitored.

Following Bandjunis' statement, Chairman Thomas G. Mangrum Sr. reaffirmed the board's support for the homeowners, saying, "We will do everything in our power to make sure you get that sand."

In other matters Tuesday:

* Pleva announced that the 22 proposals by architectural firms to design new county offices for the Social Services and Health departments had been narrowed down to five, plus two alternates. He said the firms were chosen based on their experience performing similar work and on professional recommendations.

He said he would start scheduling interviews for the top five firms from Feb. 7 through 15. The top five included one local firm, Ivey-Wall Ltd. in Gloucester.

* The board scheduled public hearings for Feb. 6 and March 2, both at 7:30 p.m. in the Courthouse, on a Community Development Block Grant program that would provide housing rehabilitation for a limited number of homes in the county.

* Frank Adkins, the engineer performing the design work for improvements to the county's sewage treatment plant, appeared before the board to review his schedule for completing the project, which was supposed to be completed last July 1.

The engineer said a new ultraviolet disinfection system and new digester, in which bacteria used in the treatment process are killed, should be started up by August. He said a new lab should be in place by November.

Adkins did not give a specific date for completing the painting of the plant, but suggested waiting until 1990 to do so.

In response, Supervisor Keith E. Sadler said, "I think we should push to get it done this year. I don't think there's any reason we can't get it done this year."

Adkins also reported that mysterious surges in water flow at off-peak periods are hindering the operation of the plant. "Someone in your county is doing something they weren't doing a year ago," he said.

He said that the operators of the plant can't figure out where the surges are coming from. "You need James Bond Jr. to find out what's going on," Adkins said.